LE CAFÉ LOUIS VUITTON PT. 2, THE WHITBY, AND SOME MURMURINGS ON PICASSO
I've asked so many people about media versus art. What makes media what makes art. For myself, I always thought it was the state I was in when creating it. But reading The Art Spirit, by Henri expanded my view of this a lot. Mainly his philosophy about living:
“Art is, after all, only a trace – like a footprint which shows that one has walked bravely and in great happiness.”
When I thought of my writing as myself, as my art, I would work myself into this (often depressed) state to make it.
After taking on more of Henri's philosophy, I focus more on living life. On being outside around the people I love, soaking each moment in and trying to be really present.
Your life is about living it. Not making stuff out of it. Or as Thomas Merton writes in a quote my Dad recently sent me:
No despair of ours can alter the reality of things; or stain the joy of the cosmic dance which is always there..
My devotional this morning talked about letting God write the story of your life. He's the choreographer. You just have to roll with the punches.
So, I present, (almost) everything I did in one weekend, focusing on leaning in and being there to soak it all up:
STYLING APPOINTMENT
On Saturday, I had a styling appointment on the Lower East Side. I haven't worked with a stylist since I was 20, but it feels like the right thing to do now. She is young and has already pulled some incredible stuff. I'm very excited for you all to meet her.
FORGETMENOT CAFE
I had a drink with someone I'm working on a profile about (they are amazing and very interesting).
He had:
a couple of beers
I had:
one gin and tonic (Tanqueray) with lime
FLASHBACK TO COPENHAGEN WITH MY EX
When I was living in Europe, you never ordered with the "and". You just said "gin tonic." Christmas always takes me back to Copenhagen with my ex boyfriend. The markets. The sweater he bought me In Amsterdam that I still wear sometimes
BACK TO FORGETMENOT CAFE
We split the Australian fries
KETCHY SHUBY
I went to Ketchy Shuby later to work on the Thanksgiving piece.
I had:
An Espresso Martini
Delicate Yellowfin Tuna Tartare (I love Tuna Tartare)
It was pretty quiet. Ketchy Shuby is the type of place where people go somewhere warm when New York turns cold. An old friend joined me and we caught up. We've known one another since we were 17.
LE CAFÉ LOUIS VUITTON
Saturday evening, Sean Forde and I went back to Louis Vuitton to eat at the Cafe. This time, I asked for one of the books by the host stand. They let me take it and I brought It back to my table. It was Max Weber & American Cubism. As I looked through the photos, I was thinking about Picasso before his cubist era:
FLASHBACK TO THE PICASSO MUSEUM IN BARCELONA
When I was 16, I went to the Picasso museum in Barcelona. I remember someone's father saying "I don't understand why he did all this beautiful stuff and then got all weird." That really stuck with me.
If I'm being completely honest, I don't think I think of the writing that I put out on this blog as art. I consider art more curious and groundbreaking and immersive, the stuff that comes out because it has to and isn't always pretty. I keep more of my art to myself. I often find myself saying that making it is enough for me.
But I love to write about other people and other people's art here.
Because I love writing here for the sake of documentation and discourse. You all feel like friends to me sometimes (in a parasocial way, yes) where I get to tell you things that I'm thinking about, recommend places, and think through seasons, ideas, and phases of life together. This stuff feels like beautiful portraiture and then my cubist era is something that will come out eventually, but in no rush, because you can't rush art.
It's patient and does what it wants when it's honest.
BACK TO LE CAFÉ LOUIS VUITTON
So I'm looking through the book, and Sean and I remark that we want to go to more galleries together (easier than museums because they're smaller) and then his friend joins us and I'm convinced she is one of my new favorite people in all of New York.
We had:
Velours Noir Cocoa-Butter (me)
Espresso Martini (Sean Forde)
Monogram Flower Ravioli (shared)
La Caesar 57th (shared)
Le Club Pont-neuf (shared)
Dirty Martini (Sean's but I ate his olives)
Vesper Martini (me)
Rob Roy (new friend)
Hazelnut Entremet (shared)
Here are my thoughts after round 2:
Velours Noir Cocoa-Butter (me) ♡ on the sweeter side if you like a classic Negroni, but definitely interesting and good
Espresso Martini (Sean Forde)
Monogram Flower Ravioli (shared) ♡ Very good bite! Delicate!
La Caesar 57th (shared) ♡ Yum. Light for a caesar, which I appreciated. Great croutons (monogrammed)
Le Club Pont-neuf (shared) ♡ So good we ordered it again. I'm usually anti sandwich when dining, but I'd order this a 3rd time
Dirty Martini (Sean's but I ate his olives) ♡ Sean's olives were great. I love garnishes. I love cherries as well
Vesper Martini (me) ♡ Great (and I'm picky about these)
Rob Roy (new friend) ♡ She was happy! They didn't typically make these so they even sent someone out to get an ingredient they were missing
Hazelnut Entremet (shared) ♡ Delish. Lighter than the chocolate one
A handful of people complimented the outfit, which I later emailed the stylist about (can't wait for you all to meet her). And we paid and on the way out, we talked to a woman at the front who Sean and I adore. She is a very beautiful model and when we asked her where we should go to next, she said the Nobu bar.
NOBU BAR
Sean and I checked our coats (but I kept one of these weird little hats I like to wear in the winter). We sat at the end of the bar and started chatting with everyone. One of the bartenders suggested a few drinks to me, "you wanna drink like the bartender" he said, "that way you won't get hungover."
We ordered:
Mia Margarita (Sean)
A naked and famous (me)
It was my first time drinking a Naked and Famous. I don't typically like Tequila, but it was very good. On the sweeter side, again, but nice. We chatted with everyone, and the bartender poured us shots.
After we explained that we don't do shots (or at least, I haven't since Jacksonville), he mixed them with something that tasted like Hi-C.
Then, Sean and I went to:
THE WHITBY
I adore a hotel bar. I love a nice hotel, I adore a nice hotel bar. The Whitby's was classic with quirky decor, but not too much of it. We sat, I took off my weird hat, and Sean and I asked the bartender if the Vintage Vesper was worth it. He told us that the Vintage Negroni was, mainly because of the Campari it's made with.
He pulled out the bottle, "Isn't this cool?" he said.
I told him that I liked some of their old ads. He told me they had merch.
I got a Vesper -
"Oh no," said the bartender, "a writer ordering a Vesper," and he explained that he thought I was going to be all gin-drunk and depressed. I explained to him that I'm actually quite optimistic about most things and generally happy to be here.
We chatted about Dostoevsky, politics, urban planning, and more, until it was finally time to go home.
THE NEXT DAY AT CAFE 82
Sean Forde and I met at Cafe 82 (more on here soon) to work and to debrief over the weekend. We talked about dating and business and had a conversation in spurts with this old man to my left.
We had our laptops out, which is pretty rare for us when we're together, as you've read in this recap.
"Do you even talk to each other?" The old man asked.
According to him, everyone should be going to Valencia, not Barcelona. Then he started talking about his love life and I told him that the woman who was sitting at the table before him remarked to the waitress that she was unhappily single and that she was doing the crossword, so she must be smart.
"How old was she?" he asked me.
I told him that he should come about 45 minutes earlier next week. I hope he does and I hope they meet and fall in love. Then, maybe they can go to Spain together.
REFLECTIONS
I am now going to email the stylist. I am sitting at home, sipping hot water, getting ready for bed. And I'm ready to wake up tomorrow, listen for my cues, and perform the role I've been giving in this blessing of a life with emphasis and gusto and gratitude.
As a woman once said to me and I have said to some people (and I can't remember which happened first!) when asked how I'm doing:
"I WOKE UP"
You're awake. You're alive. You have a body, a mind, and a soul. Feel the music, run with the plot, and dance.
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